01 – Blast Off
Act One opens with your arrival. Welcome to a new age! Your journey is about to begin at a vacation departure site near our Sun. Prepare for an exciting adventure!
The first track on “Escape the Martian Monkey War” is titled Blast Off. This non-lyrical opening to the musical fantasy brings the listener into a new place somewhere in outer space near the Sun. You can hear your spaceship slowing down into a “no wake” zone of space in preparation for the Narrator’s introduction into a musical fantasy that takes you on a journey to the planets of our solar system.
02 – Meet The Crew
Meet the crew of the famous Solar Bus Tour! Proud and qualified, they live up to the difficult life on the go, jumping from planet to plane. Here’s a little insight into the people that make up our crew!
- Captain Roland Stone – The captain in our story is a courageous man who isn’t afraid to show his true emotions in the face of danger. He takes his responsibility for the passenger’s safety very serious (listen to Saturn). He depends on his crew to deliver a universally celebrated solar tour that boggles the mind. Up close and personal visits to each of the planets is the hallmark of his tour features. Professional, likable, confident, the captain handles the massive tour bus with ease. Perhaps his greatest turmoil is the ongoing Martian/Monkey war. Near catastrophic events with these warring factions has threaten his livelihood and his life. Too live a life in peace is something that most (Winston Ward a good exception) have never known. When you meet the captain, you will most likely find him approachable and very friendly.
- Co-Pilot Jake Wade – No captain and crew is complete without a strong and confident co-pilot. Jake is an exemplary example. Well trained in one of the most elite solar flight academies, Jake rose to the top of his class showing certain signs of an amazing career before him. Dedicated to his work, he has left little in his life for other interests (listen to Meet The Crew). He is intelligent, organized, pragmatic, creative, and focused. In our adventure, we will Jake exposed to something completely new to him, love. Romance does blossom in this story and Jake finds himself in an uncomfortable yet exciting situation. Won’t you join in the excitement and give EMMW a good listen to find out how Jake handles this new situation?
Flight Attendant sung by Lara Lairen - Flight Attendant Ann Hale – Strong willed and compassionate, flight attendant Ann completes the crew trio. Her amazing background story has led her to this career in quite a unexpected way. Orphaned at an early age, Ann has learned to become very self-supporting and independent. Moving from one foster family after another, life on Mars was never easy for her. Through years of hard work as an independent writer, she managed to pay her own way through Flight school. She met her first love, Theodore (Teddy) in school and they instantly became inseparable. By some bazaar act of fate, Ted was mortally wounded in a training exercise on one of the flight simulators. Tragically, Ann never really recovered from the incident, and although a very warm and inviting person, she has since pulled inward, protecting and isolating herself from the world on Mars that has continued to disappoint her. The opportunity to join the captain on this multi-planetary tourist flight team is a new beginning for her. Will she be able to overcome her life obstacles and even find love again? Join us in the remarkable adventure, Escape the Martian/Monkey War and see (listen) for yourself!
Let’s move forward in the story. Next up, the insatiable and charismatic old fellow, Winston Ward. Read about his life next…
03 – Winston Ward
What do you get when mix a 304 old astronaut and a wild adventure? One heck of a good time! Winston Ward is lovable old man who has so much compassion for life that he doesn’t ever want to give it up! Ever!!!
We learn so much about him in this third selection from EMMW. His tragic, sad past life brings us closer to the man who has spent most of his life in outer space. From the early years when the monkeys first overtook Earth to the present where he is in line to board the famous Solar Bus Tour, we see life through his eyes. His detailed personal experiences with the monkeys sheds a much needed light on the events that unfolded during the massive exile of the humans from Earth to Mars.
Winston truly exemplifies the meaning of hero. He will do anything he can to bring justice and hope to crew. And for that, the crew truly loves this little 304 year old human!
04 – Three Rocks
BAM, BAM, BAM!!! THE 4th TRACK IS A ROCKER! TURN IT UP!!!
Get ready to get the real story on how and why the monkeys and martians are warring! This blow by blow account of how things went so terribly wrong comes into the story just in time. With character development mostly out of the way, we can now focus on the roots of a hundred year war between the two fighting factions.
Here’s a quick summary. Scientific advances in DNA upgrade systems for brain enhancements were expected to bring the human species to whole new levels of intelligence, but laboratory experiments go terribly wrong and monkey test samples reap the benefit. Angered from the earliest of times, the planet earth quickly becomes too crowded for the two groups. Most humans were destroyed in the first few years. But as fate would have it, a few thousand lucky individuals from different locations on Earth were able to escape.
Hope this one hits the spot on your “groovin” level. Hold on tight, because it slides right into a nice instrumental jam at the end. I felt like I wanted something to represent the tension of the story. Hoping to get some good feedback on this one. Enjoy!
05 – Not Alone
If you were thinking that there is something going on between Jake the co-pilot and Ann the flight attendant, then two points for you catching that one early. Yes, it’s true! In “Not Alone”, we find Ann entering the storage facility in a lower deck. While preoccupied with her task at hand, her mind begins to wander and wonder. Why has she never found anyone since Teddy?
Simultaneously, Jake becomes aware of activity in the storage facility and goes down to check it out. His thoughts also wander into his lonely life. Suddenly the two of them are together and Jake takes the opportunity to reach out to Ann. Not even sure at first what her response will be, he invites her to the tour climax, the Grok Monroe concert. Will she say yes? Check out this romantic melody and find out for yourself!
06 – The Martians
After arriving on Mars, the revenge seeking humans begin to assemble a massive space war arsenal. Talks of retaliation flow through every conversation in the new colonies. Soon the humans are ready for what would become a war lasting generations.
This song takes a serious look at the human consequences to war at the same time flaunting its cruel and effective tactics. Lyrics were carefully constructed to help the listener ponder the cost of war.
Fun fact, this song was originally recorded with Aggressive Pedestrians in the early 2000’s. I was able to add some additional keyboard tracks and change the lyrics slightly to make it work. It was the only song that I was able to use from our last album Planets.
07 – Battle At Jupiter
Finally in a dangerous attempt to show strength, squads of Martian and Monkey starships begin to gather around Jupiter. It appears to be a standoff situation of enormous magnitude. Captain Roland Stone finds his little bus in the middle of this precarious situation! Only after some help from the Martians is he able to navigate to safety, but for how long? Listen to this nail biter to find out what happens next!
08 – Saturn
This haunting ballad closes Act One with the captain facing his greatest fears with a new found courage. Faced with certain destruction again, it will take everything the captain has to skillfully maneuver away from the ongoing battle after leaving Jupiter. What will become of the passengers and crew? What will be in store for us in Act Two???
All sound effects were created by Michael Hemphill or downloaded from our favorite sound effects website. If you need sound effects please remember to visit Unsplash.com